Crumbly Coconut Granola (Low Carb | Keto | Gluten Free)

Mornings are not an epileptic’s friend!

It’s when many of us are vulnerable to seizures. Mine normally occur when I’m incredibly tired and sleepy, so first thing in the morning is primetime for the seizure gremlins to attack.

It’s therefore vital that my mornings are peaceful and stress-free. Most people don’t like being disturbed in the AM, but I should probably come with a DND warning sign before 8 am and a matcha latte.

I’ve really missed grabbing a quick cereal, yogurt and fruit-to-go

It does seem like Keto breakfasts are ‘mostly’ soft and/or warm and generally take a lot of time and effort to prepare. There seems to be a lot of ‘cooking’ involved to get those macros in. Precious time which most people don’t have.

This Low-Carb Crumbly Coconut Granola recipe came about on my quest for a cold, crunchy ‘Keto Cereal’! I just couldn’t deal with the cravings anymore, and there was nothing in the shops that catered to my needs.

Granola in the shops tend to have sugar or honey, or gluten. This is a homemade solution to my dilemma, bearing in mind that I also needed a high fat intake in addition to low-carb – hence the coconut oil.

Granted, it kind of looks like sand, but it TASTES like a Keto breakfast from heaven! Especially if you’ve been eating bacon and eggs everyday!

A great meal-prep recipe for the working week

It might take some time the first time round, but once you get the hang of making granola, and if you have the ingredients lying around, it shouldn’t take too long the next few times.

The best thing about making any type of granola is you could make a large batch and keep it in an air-tight container for a few weeks (if it lasts that long! I’d give it a few days).

Other benefits of this Granola

• The texture of this granola also means that it’s great as a crumbly topping on other desserts (I had it on top of my panna cotta yesterday!).
• An average portion (5 tbsp) has just 3.1g net carbs and 27.5g fat. 
• An average serving also has 114.3 mg Magnesium and 299.7 mg Potassium  – two minerals that Keto-ers often find challenging incorporating into our lifestyle.

So without further ado, here we go:

Ingredients

Makes 45 tablespoons (average serving = 5 tablespoon)

You will need:

• Flax Meal: 1 cup
• Coconut Flour: 0.5 cup
• Almond Flour: 0.5 cup
• Coconut Oil: 0.5 cup
• Vanilla stevia liquid: 3-5 drops (OR other sweetener of choice and vanilla essence or vanilla bean powder).
• Pumpkin seeds: 0.25 cup
• Sunflower seeds: 0.25 cup
• Dried coconut flakes/chips: 0.25 cup
• Walnuts: 8
• Cinnamon powder: 0.5 tsp (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (320F) and prepare a baking tray by lining it with parchment paper for your granola.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the flax meal, coconut flour and almond flour.

3. Measure out 0.5 cup of Coconut oil.

4. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave or over a low heat.

5. Add the melted coconut oil into the flax-coconut-almond mixture.

6. Add Vanilla stevia drops to taste (approximately 3-5 drops). Alternatively, add vanilla essence or powder and sweetener or choice.

7. Stir the mixture well until it starts the come to together – it should start to look like slightly damp sand.

8. Measure out nuts and seeds of choice. I used pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts and dried coconut.

9 (optional). Add cinnamon.

10. Mix the nuts, seeds and cinnamon into the granola mixture well.

11. Grab the baking tray you prepared in the beginning. Add a tiny bit of coconut oil to it (you can never be too careful!) and pour the granola mixture onto the parchment paper, spreading it out and flattening it down.

12. Bake in the oven at 160C (320F) for 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture has toasted and is golden-brown in colour. Take it out of the oven every 5-10 minutes to give it a good stir. (Note: You could increase the temperature up to 176C / 350F but keep a close eye on the granola mixture as it is finer than usual, so I like to keep the temperature lower and just increase it at the end for a final toast!).

13. Remove from the oven, cool and store in an air-tight container!

Granola. Yogurt. Berries – Enough said!

Macros:

1 serving = 1 tablespoon

• Energy: 61.03 kcal
• Protein: 1.34 g
• Total Carbs: 2.1g
• Fiber: 1.48g
• Net Carbs: 0.62 g
• Fat: 5.5 g
• Magnesium: 22.86mg
• Potassium: 59.94mg
• Selenium: 1.81ug
• Zinc: 0.32mg

An average portion = 5 tablespoon

• Energy: 305.15 kcal
• Protein: 6.7g
• Total Carbs: 10.5g
• Fiber: 7.4g
• Net Carbs: 3.1 g
• Fat: 27.5 g
• Magnesium: 114.3 mg
• Potassium: 299.7mg
• Selenium: 9.05ug

Zinc: 1.6mg